BNPPMasters: Semifinal Conference Transcript

Q. David played a very, very solid match today, and it seems like you never really found your best game out there. How did you feel?

RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, he played much better than me today. That's the first thing. And that's in these kind of matches the player who play better normally win, so I congratulate him.

Q. Obviously disappointed. How do you plan to change things around for London? What do you think you need to correct to do better in London?

RAFAEL NADAL: I need to play better, as I said before. Sometimes we find a lot of things in the sport, and the sport is very simple. Is not a big thing, you know. Just I need to play with less mistakes. I need to move quicker. I was slow. I felt that I don't move ‑‑always I was a little bit late on the ball. So against a player like David, he's quick and he plays inside the court and he puts you pressure on you all the time, you are dead, no? It was like this.In the second set I had chances. Big mistake for me though in the game 5‑All. Because if I win that game and I put 6‑5 on my favor, I will have a chance. But I didn't, so stupid talk about that (smiling). That's all. I need to play more aggressive on Tuesday and I need to move quicker. If I move myself quicker, I gonna have the chance to hit the ball quicker and have the chance to play with less mistakes.But basically, the most important thing is the movement.

Q. It was a strange match. You didn't seem to move as well as usual. You said you were slower than usual. Were you affected by your stomach bug, or did you have any physical problem?

RAFAEL NADAL: No. I don't have no one physical problem. Just, you know, I don't know why today I was sweating much more than previous days. I feel a little bit, you know, slower, but nothing that really should affect to my movements.That's it. Just I was not enough well this afternoon, and David was much better than me. Just the thing that I can do when these kind of thing happen is congratulate my friend and wish him the best of luck for tomorrow. I hope he will have his chance tomorrow. For me, just have tomorrow and Monday to practice a little bit in London. I need to practice as well, need to work on a few things. Very short period of time, but that's what there is.Remain one tournament. Try to play with positive attitude, best attitude I can. I think today I played no negative. Trying to be positive. Trying to fight until the end, but was not the day. That's the only thing I can do, because I know at the end of the season a lot of times the body, the mental, and the tennis is tougher for me, no? I arrived with a bit more tired, and the conditions of these courts didn't help me a lot never.So we will see what's going on. I gonna try to play better on London. In the end I played here four matches. That's positive thing for prepare for London. I don't say this is a tournament to prepare London because I don't take this tournament like this. I think this tournament is big enough important to have a preparation tournament. Again, at the end, when this tournament is over, I have to think that I had four matches here that hopefully again can work well for me to try to be quicker and try to be more dynamic next week. That's what I need.

Q. It's pretty unusual to get to play the same player two times in a row like you will against David. Is there anything tactically you will be thinking about from this match going into the next one, or how is that sort of different preparation than usual?

RAFAEL NADAL: You was here? I think I answered that question a few questions ago. I said that the only thing that change is try to play more aggressive, try to play with less mistakes, try to move myself better.

Q. In terms of the matchup, did you learn anything about David's game that you can use immediately for the next time, I guess?

RAFAEL NADAL: We played I don't know how many times. Is nothing completely that I need to know, no. We know each other very well. I know what things he's doing well, and when he's playing well he's very dangerous on all the surfaces, but especially on this one, especially because it's probably the worst surface for me. We will see. I need to do a few things better. That's what I say before. Learn or not, doesn't matter. In the end, I am 27 years old. I don't have 18 or 19. All experiences are positive when you are younger. Today I know very well my opponents and I know what I have to do. The thing is if I am ready to do it or not.

Q. You played at a very high level against Janowicz and Gasquet. When you have a day like this, do you just say, Okay, it was a bad day at the office and you forget about it, or do you get a little bit worried about what may have gone wrong?

RAFAEL NADAL: I think I didn't play enough well during the whole tournament. That's my feeling. It's true that yesterday I won 6‑4, 6‑1, but at the same time it's true that the style of Richard is a little bit different than the style of David. Probably the style of Richard helped me a little bit to me because he plays with topspin. I have more time to think.I play a match more like a normal surface, not like indoors, no? So that helps my game.
Is a different history today. David plays more like this, and if I am not very quick on my legs affects a lot to my game, no? Yesterday, even if I was not that quick, I had more time to prepare the point.